I Miss Your Smile
by MadokaKotone
Summary: Sakuno's change in behavior has Ryoma puzzled, so he decides to figure out what is wrong. In the end, when he finally finds out her secret, he wish he hadn't. RyomaSakuno
1. A Sudden Change

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

Note: This story is being "cleaned-up," per se. I read over this a couple days ago and found myself facepalming about every two lines. I got rid of all of the unnecessary bolded characters, simmered down the caps lock usage, and redid some other things. I hope this version will be a much easier read. Thanks!

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I.

* * *

"…Ok, Echizen, Sakuno's racquet also needs stringing again, so could you-"

"—Haaii."

"…Really, Echizen, take care of her," the woman said before falling into a coughing fit. She regained herself and continued in a serious tone, "… I mean it."

Nanjirou raised his brow. "O-ok…old hag… Ja." And with that, he left.

(Wednesday. 8/27. 5:30 A.M. Echizen Residence.)

A certain ex-tennis prodigy sat cross legged in the living room of the Echizen residence. He looked pretty perturbed at something, and it showed in his tone, "Ryoma! Get down here _now_!"

"Haaaiii," Ryoma was too tired to protest to his old man, so he lazily trudged down the stairs and into the living room. When he saw his father on the hard, dusty floor sitting Indian-style with no questioning books to be seen, Ryoma was slightly puzzled. "Nani?"

Nanjirou silenced for a moment, then sighed, "…Help me."

"What?!" the boy was so shocked that he used English to respond to his dad. Ryoma knew one thing, and that was that his father _never_ asked _him_ for help. "Look here, Oyaji, if it's about me going to that _disgusting_shop and buying those _exotic_ magazines for you because you aren't fully satisfied with that whole bookcase full of them, then I'm not—" The boy was stopped by his dad's fierce look,

"Ryoma… I'm serious," Nanjirou sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Just help me and go with Ryuzaki's granddaughter for new strings, got it?"

Before Ryoma could even say one word, Nanjirou got up and went outside.

"…Hai," the boy just responded and thought nothing more of it.

* * *

(Tuesday. 8/26. 8:20 A.M. Homeroom.)

Everyone was in their classroom, discussing the usual subjects; upcoming tests, classmates … and especially tennis and the ranking tournament that was to be held that afternoon. Horio was jabbering away to his two groupies, while our Prince of Tennis was glancing out the window, showing no sign of interest in their conversation.

Horio was running on diesel, as always, **"**Well, of course we all know who's gonna take the last regular spot without guessing."

Kachiro, feeling sarcastic today, decided to answer, "Who?"

Horio cockily jabbed his chest with his thumb,**"**Me, of course, with my two whole years of experience."

**"**Oh, really," Kachiro looked at Katsuo, and both of them sweat-dropped. He whispered to Katsuo, "A little cocky, don't you think?"

Katsuo looked at him, "I'm starting to think he was _born _that way."

While Ryoma and two-thirds of the ichinen trio reluctantly listened to the other one-third blabber away, a conversation between a shy girl with pigtails and her outspoken friend could be heard from across the room. Tomoka spanked Sakuno's desk with both her hands and stared at her with glittering orbs, "Sakuno-chan, you know who's going to take the last regular spot, don't you?"

Sakuno, looking sort of downcast, sub-consciously picked up a pencil and started to swing it in front of her face. The girl could barely hear her blabbering friend beside her as she quietly thought to herself.

"Sakuno-chan!?"

Sakuno's trance was broken, and she propped her chin on her left hand, "…Umm…" She was obviously troubled by something.

Tomoka just shrugged her shoulders five inches downward, "Well, Ryoma-sama, of course!"

Sakuno then began to tap one end on her desk,**"…**But I thought he was a regular already."

Tomoka's eyebrows ascended up her forehead a few millimeters**, "**Sakuno-chan, remember the ranking tournaments start over sometimes? Wow, I thought you knew about that, ne!" Tomoka then quietly thought to herself and frowned slightly, _something's up with Sakuno-chan._

Sakuno just replied with a soft voice, "Oh, right." She then put the pencil down and settled her head in between her now intertwined arms, sighing softly. Ryoma saw the sudden change in her behavior, and slowly got up to "sharpen his pencil".

"…Sakuno-chan, is something wrong?" Moments passed, but Tomoka got no response from her best friend. The tennis prince slowly approached the two girls as Tomoka continued attempting to get a response from her friend, "Sakuno-chan…Sakuno-chan…" She needed another tactic to get Sakuno's attention so she decided to call someone over. She lifted her head and yelled for the whole world to hear, not knowing that the person she was addressing was three feet away from her, "…RYOMA-SAMA!!!"

At the sound of his name, Ryoma flinched and Sakuno shot her head up and fell backward, limbs flying everywhere. She expected an impact, but because of her lightness, someone caught her just in time.

Tomoka gasped. "Sensei! Gomen, Sakuno-chan!"

Sakuno only showed the slightest bit of shock, but it was then coated up by a whisper," Gomen…sensei."

Their sensei lifted her up back into her seat with a scoff, and then walked to the blackboard to start the lesson. "Ryoma, go back to your seat so we can start class."

Everyone turned to look at him except for Sakuno, who slumped back onto her desk. He turned to her, and slowly made his way back to his seat, dazed.

* * *

(Present Time: Wednesday. 8/27. 12:00 P.M. Seigaku Tennis Courts.)

The sun glistened above Seigaku's goldenrod clock tower, making it illuminate grandly as the day rolled on. It was about time for the regulars to start practice; they were only waiting for their captain and Ryuzaki-sensei. Everyone else was outside by the courts.

A freshman regular was pinching his racquet strings a bit too hard for the day, and this caught Fuji's eye. Curious as always, he walked just a few ways off from where Ryoma was standing, listening for any signs of the topic on his mind.

Ryoma stood outside the court, deep in thought._Practice better start soon. Tezuka-buchou and Ryuzaki-sensei are already thirty minutes late…_ Thoughts of not having practice swirled around in his head, and his fingers pinched even harder on his tennis racquet, almost bending the face. Ryoma loosened his grip and glanced around for any sight of his tennis coach and captain. Something kept tugging his brain, and after a while it started to give him a headache, so he walked over to a secluded spot under a shady tree. He had a knot in his stomach, and he didn't like the feeling of it. _What's going on?_

Fuji followed a few paces behind him, hid behind a nearby vending machine and waited. Following him around the corner were three Seigaku regulars.

"Hoi, Hoi, Fuj—PHHTT!!" Before the redhead blew his cover, Fuji swiftly heeled on Eiji and clamped his mouth shut with his right hand.

"What's going on F-PFFT!!!?" The other half of the Golden Pair got the same welcoming gesture from his tensai's left hand.

"Fu- uhh…" Fuji, seeing that he had no free hands, just decided to stop Momo with a simple "Fuji-glare".

It worked.

Syusuke whispered, "Shh…" After a few moments he let go of Eiji and Oishi's mouth, leaving them coughing and sputtering for oxygen. Fuji looked down at his right hand and noticed it was soaking wet. _Eiji…_"Saa…"

"Who are you spying on _this_ time?" Momo just couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"Shh." Fuji looked back to where Ryoma went while calmly swabbing his right hand on Momo's shirt. Seeing that Ryoma was still there, Fuji turned and smiled at his sempai. Momo was thinking about smacking the tensai when Fuji finally answered, "Echizen."

Eiji finished chuckling at Momo's reaction, "Oi, you mean our o'chibi?"

Fuji turned to him and smiled that smile he was oh-so-famous for, "Saa… now we observe. He's thinking about…" Fuji's head swerved back to the clueless boy under the sakura tree and furrowed his eyebrows. After a few moments of silence, Fuji turned back to the anticipated trio, "Ryuzaki-chan."

Oishi had second thoughts about his next question right after it slithered out of the corners of his mouth, "How do you know?"

The sadist of Seigaku just smiled back at Oishi, and he got the message. Oishi inwardly gulped.

While the four regulars were busy spying on Ryoma, Kaidoh came up from behind them to take a look at what they were looking at. Feeling someone breathing on his neck, Eiji looked back to see who it was. After he saw beady eyes, a pointy nose, and a sagging mouth, he screamed,

"AH! STALKER!" The acrobat player jumped ten feet in the air from the shock.

Ryoma's eyes snapped open, "Eiji-sempai?!" He swiveled around to see nothing, since Eiji plopped down in between Fuji and the vending machine just in time.

"Hmph," Ryoma huffed before going back to his previous cargo train of thoughts.

"Wha-PFFT!!!" Before Kaidoh could react, he was pinned by three hands.

Eiji huddled next to the vending machine, frightened from the previous incident and from Fuji's harsh glare. "H-Hoi, H-Hoi… D-don't S-scare me like t-that… I get s-scared eas-s-sily, ne…"

Oishi already knew this, but he sensed something else in Eiji's voice, like something was troubling him. "Eiji, is everything ok?"

"H-Hai…" Eiji said that, but he gave Oishi a look that portrayed his true feelings.

"O-ok." Oishi looked calm, but he was starting to get the same feeling in his stomach.

"Look at that, you made your sempai scream!" Momo was so occupied with bothering Kaidoh that he ignored his sixth sense.

"I…said…hush." Fuji had his eyes wide open by now, obviously irked.

Momo pushed down harder, adding weight to Kaidoh's suffering lower facial features, "Yeah, hear that, mamushi?! He said 'HUSH'!"

Before Momo could say another word, Kaidoh broke apart from their hands and met him face-to-face, barking in his ear, "Oh, you're one to talk, PINHEAD!!!"

Momo was quick to backfire, "Say that to my face, FISHLIPS!"

"H-he did… M-M-Momo-S-sempai-" Eiji couldn't help himself.

"Eiji!" Momo was not in the mood for smart-talk.

"Ah, Oishi! He's gonna eat me!" Eiji bolted to Oishi's side.

"…He probably would if he was willing to…" Kaidoh found that _very_ amusing.

Momo on the other hand found that very insulting. Face purple, he shoved his index finger into Kaidoh's line of vision, "Ok, _that's_ where _I_ draw the line! Get over here!"

Oishi, being the motherly person he was, decided to resolve this matter in a calm and motherly way. After he got Eiji to calm down and practically ripped Momo and Kaidoh apart from each other, he turned to Fuji and gave him an exasperating thumbs-up sign. Then, sensing that the captain would be there shortly, he whispered, "Fuji-sempai, Tezuka-buchou should be getting here soon. You better hurry up!"

"Don't worry… Oishi-sempai." Fuji seethed. There was a brief moment of silence after he said that, so Fuji took advantage of it; Momo, Eiji, Kaidoh, and Oishi stood quietly as they watched Fuji's back while he resumed to spy on his kouhai.

_I wonder what's wrong with that Ryuzaki girl, she wasn't acting normal at all today. Usually my name is every other word that comes out of her mouth, but she didn't say it even once today … Hmm … Sakuno…_He widened his eyes a little bit, realizing about who he was thinking of._Why the heck am I fussing over_ her? After a few moments he went rigid, realizing that he actually said her first name. He also couldn't believe the fact that he _remembered_ her first name. _…Why did I just call Sa-Ryuzaki by her first name? I've never even thought of other girls' first names before… Why hers?_By now, the Prince of Tennis was the Prince of Confusion.

His face flared up just enough for Fuji to see it.

Just in time for his camera to click.

The sadist grinned at his camera and whispered softly, "I love you…My precious."

All three of his "prisoners" sweat-dropped three puddles of embarrassment after he said that. Momo was about to swipe the Polaroid out of Fuji's hands when an abrupt,

"Everyone line up!" Rang throughout the atmosphere.

Momo tightened his oversized knuckles, "Aw, Man!"

* * *

Sakuno stared deeply into the light-sapphire sky for quite some time. Alone, that's what she wanted to be right now, just alone. Not even the dancing sun's rays could brighten up her face today. Only one thing… or, _person_ was on her mind right now. _I need you,-_

Suddenly the door to the classroom bust open, "Sakuno-chan, what's going on?"

_No,__Tomo-chan I want to be alone…please…_

Tomoka had had it: the falling incident in class, Sakuno suddenly depressed, and now she found her in class instead of lunch. She knew something was up. After getting no response, she tried again, "Sakuno… what's the matter with you?"

Sakuno's bloodshot, chocolate-glazed eyes shot open, still piercing through the glass window. _S-she left out the… C-Chan…_Sakuno was at a loss for words, for Tomoka was now being too serious with her.

"…Is it about… Ryoma…sama?"

Despite Sakuno's current state, crimson streaks still evaded her facial expression, "No, Tomo-chan!" She swiveled her head towards Tomoka. "I-it's about… O-" In an instant ebony dots swallowed Sakuno's vision and she swayed in her seat. "Ry-Ryoma-kun…h-help…" The only thing Sakuno remembered at that time was the sight of Tomoka pushing around desks to get to her sinking form, shouting something inaudible, and then her world went black.

* * *

He was sure of it—he heard a camera. Swiveling his head around, he looked at the vending machines, eyes narrowed. An eyebrow rose. _Hn?_

Silence.

No one.

He felt the knot in his stomach again—this time it scared him. A surge of frosted awareness darted throughout his body, but was quickly brushed off when he heard someone call his name.

"Echizen!"

He winced. _Tezuka-buchou.__That's twenty laps minimum already._He shook it off fully and walked briskly to the courts. Ryoma looked down at his racquet grip to find that it was wearing away from his sweat. He thought to himself, _I just changed my grip two days ago._ His hand that was around the racquet was pale white. He switched hands and stretched out his left hand. _Ouch. _

Thinking that nothing else could go wrong, Ryoma pinched his strings. To his dismay, one of the strings made a small 'ping!' as it popped from the impact.

Ryoma lifted his racquet to his face and smirked. _Well, since __I need restringing… and so does Ryuzaki… This should be convenient._

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To be continued...

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Thanks for reading! If the next chapter looks messy, it means I'm busy at my computer doing some clean-up. I'll hopefully get it up soon.


	2. Curiosity's Price

Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis.

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II.

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(Seigaku's Tennis Courts. Wednesday 8/27. 1:45 P.M.)

Ryoma staggered to the nearest water fountain, exasperated from the day's practice. _Geez, he could have at least…_ "Oof!" He gripped the edge of the teeny oasis as he stumbled _…given us…_ Grunting, he gradually propped himself up to his feet._thirty seconds…_ he pressed the switch to discharge the merciful fluid, and with one more intense sigh_… to breathe!_ Ryoma dove into the stream of gleaming refreshness, drenching his head to the very tips of his chaotic locks. Then he took a second to slurp the ribbon of water up like spaghetti, "Aahhh…"

He would've stayed there forever.

His legs were trembling from the short but "sweet" practice they had that day. Even though they only had twenty-five more minutes, every single one of the regulars would've drunk Inui's most merciless "drink" to cool off from the hardcore exercise. Eiji and Momo didn't even have the strength to slap Ryoma's back after practice, for which he was thankful. Actually, Ryoma was very lucky to be one of the few to even have the strength left to stand up. Ryoma, Tezuka and Fuji were the only ones who could.

The rest were practically dead.

Ryoma just stood, dazed. He was thinking of getting his revenge on Inui for coming up with such a meticulous exercise when someone suddenly gripped his wrist, yanked him from his sacred oasis, and slammed him against the brick wall, creating a sound of ribs against stone. The prince screamed, "ITAI! What the—!"

"—What did you do to Sakuno-chan?" The predator was shrouded in shadow and their voice was barely a whisper, but soaked in poison. He couldn't decipher the voice, not even the gender of the holder.

"What?" And once again, he was confused.

"Oh, don't give me that! Now look; I have no idea what you did, but now she's all depressed and in the nurse's office!"

Ryoma could feel the icy aura wrapping around his harasser, but didn't even think about it when he heard the words 'depressed' and 'nurse's'. He could only repeat his past response, "W-What?"

The hand around his wrist gripped even harder on his hand, making him silently yelp. _Ok, this has got to be a guy._

"Listen carefully 'cause I don't like to repeat myself," Their voice was dripping with toxin. "Sakuno-chan fainted, and now she is in. the. Nurse's."

A abrupt noise caused the trapper to swerve their head to the right.

Nothing.

They turned their head back, "Got i-…?"

…No Ryoma.

"Hmph," was all they could say, and silently walked back to class.

* * *

(Seigaku Main Hall. 1:55 P.M.)

Everything happened all too sudden, and Ryoma found himself tearing up the hallway with superhuman strength he just discovered he had ten seconds ago. One minute he's struggling to stand up and the next he's racing down the hallway to the nurse's office like a madman to see if a _girl_ is okay. Of course that didn't occur to the teen, seeing that if he was any denser he would've sunk below molasses. _Almost there…_

Just then, the bell for the next class rang, and all the cafeteria doors and all the other classroom doors bust open, pouring out students like the water from the fountain Ryoma was previously savoring. _Please, anything but the—_

"RYOMA-SAMAAA!!!"

"Ryoma-sama, you're so awesome!"

"KAWAII, RYOMA-SAMA!!!"

—_fangirls…_ Every single one of the scavengers, stalkers, or whatever you want to call them knew Ryoma was finishing tennis practice just then, and they all sped towards him like a flock of wild geese. There were so many of them that they blocked the entrance to the office.

Ramming through them as fast as he possibly could, he finally reached the door. He ignored the lipstick marks on his face, the scratches on his arms and legs, and all the other things the fan girls did to him; all he cared about was seeing if Sakuno was alright.

_Since when do I care so much about a_girl_? Let alone_her? Rushing to rotate the knob on the entrance, one final twist and the door was flung open by the tennis prince. He scampered inside, slammed the door shut, and locked it.

"Mada Mada Da Ne."

* * *

(Seigaku Nurse's. 2:10 P.M.)

Swaying towards the nearest nurse, he asked if they had a 'Sakuno Ryuzaki' in. The nurse only stared at his torn state, biting back snickers. Trying her hardest to not look at him, she ushered him into Sakuno's room. When the ivory door clicked back into place, there he stood. It was just starting to dawn on him that he was skipping class. For a girl.

There was Sakuno on the nurse's cot under the sheets. Her hair, as delicate as a chocolate waterfall, cascaded around the pillow and her china face. Her cocoa-brown eyes were peeking at her visitor over the pallid sheets. S he couldn't see who it was because they were drenched in the sun's rays. _Who is that? An angel? A-am I… dead? What if it's… Wait, that can't be… Ryoma-kun?_She was about to speak, but no words came out. Then Sakuno saw the golden silhouette advancing towards the bed. Whoever it was, they sat on the seat next to the bed and stole a glance at her russet locks.

_Her hair…_Ryoma reached over to caress one of Sakuno's never-ending tresses, not even noticing that she was awake. "…looks better free."

_Ryoma-kun!!!_Sakuno's cheeks flared like a forest fire, and her toffee-colored eyes magnified. _He d-doesn't realize I'm…awake? _She was about to tell Ryoma that she wasn't unconscious anymore, but she decided against it and turned so her back was facing him. Her heart was racing.

Ryoma swiped his hand away like a lightning bolt and froze. _Did she hear me?_ He waited a few seconds for a response, expecting an 'eep!' or a 'Ryoma-kun!', but her voice wasn't heard. "Hmm," He reached for her hair again, and captured it in his hands, "Your hair… it's really soft."

Sakuno's heart was starting to feel a bit lighter; even though indirectly, Ryoma was actually talking to her. She blushed, feeling a bit guilty about her little eavesdropping moment.

Ryoma sighed, he knew she was awake. How could you not tell they were awake if the eavesdropper that had a huge crush on you was shaking like a drenched dog after you only spoke one word? _Well, she was never good at lying, either._"I wonder if you're lips feel the same wa-"

That's when Sakuno broke, "Ryoma-kun?!" Sakuno shot her head up and swerved her head to face a smirking Ryoma.

"…Mada Mada Dane, Ryuzaki." It seemed like Ryoma had some cleverness in him, deep down under his seemingly never-ending denseness. He would've paid to witness her reaction for a second time; she looked like a sun-tanned lobster when he whispered his trademark phrase to her face.

Ms. Gullible made a pouting face, "T-that was mean, R-Ryoma-kun," Sakuno was frustrated in herself for being such a dupe to him. Then she saw the lipstick marks. She pointed one finger to his face, "Umm, Ryoma-kun? What—"

Ryoma held up his hand, shading his face. There was no need for any explanation. He then rubbed his face vigorously to rid it of the horrid death marks, only to smear them down to patches of red, pink, and blue. Ryoma looked like a court jester, scrunching up his face in different angles.

Sakuno bit back a laugh and looked away, blushing like a pigeon would. vShe regained herself after a brief moment of silence and turned back around, "A-Ano… how did you know I was awake?"

Ryoma let down his hands and shrugged, "Guessed."

Sakuno inhaled, biting back more giggles to keep her Prince's pride top-notch, "Oh…right."

"Ne, why were you so depressed the other day?" Well, he wasn't one to beat around the bush.

Sakuno's face instantaneously became so downcast and sullen that Ryoma regretted the question the moment he asked. "Sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's ok, Ryoma-kun," The patient was debating on whether she should tell Ryoma the whole story or not. Suddenly a question came to her mind, "Ano…Ryoma-kun… shouldn't you be in class?"

"Yeah," the tennis prince replied, but didn't move an inch. "Why?"

Sakuno's face ripened. _ Ano… Ryoma-kun's skipping class for__me… _She pulled her legs up to her chest to hide her wine-tinted profile, "J-just asking…"

The room became silent for a few moments, until the tennis prince decided to break it for once, "Oi."

Sakuno snapped back to reality and stared back at the boy sitting next her, "Huh?"

"So… what?"

"Oh…" The auburn-head girl took a deep breath and spoke, "Y-You sure you want to sit here the whole time?"

Ryoma pulled his cap down, staining the front part of it with red streaks, "…It's nothing."

That caught her off guard, "O-oh, okay then…" Tears were already spreading like a fast current through her orbs, making them glisten like a brown lake. "Umm…" Sakuno took one big sniffle to calm herself down. "Gomen, Ryoma-kun, it's just…"

As Sakuno continued to tremble, Ryoma's face softened; he's never seen her this vulnerable, even when she was around him blushing like a paranoid ostrich. The Prince of Tennis was beginning to feel so sorry for her, that he subconsciously brushed his hand against her pale white one, "Oi, look at me."

Sakuno's eyes widened as she looked up, "R-Ryoma-kun?"

Ryoma stared deep into her pools of timber-brown and suddenly wished that he never asked her any questions. Sakuno looked so disheartened that even the Prince of Tennis felt like reassuring her. He didn't know what to say he was so caught off guard. Being the unexperienced person that he was, the tennis prodigy could only be blunt. However, seeing Ryuzaki in this particular state made him want to just embrace her and tell her that everything was going to be okay, even though he had no idea what was wrong with the poor girl. Only one word reached his mouth, "Smile."

Sakuno wiped her puffy eyes and gazed back at Ryoma, "I'm sorry Ryoma-kun, what did you say?"

Ryoma wanted to ask himself the same thing. _…Smile? Where did__that__come from?_ The tennis prodigy kept his gaze on the cotton sheets as he got lost in his own thoughts.

Sakuno stared at him for a moment. Her mouth opened slightly, only to go full circle and clamp shut again.

It was a hushed atmosphere for a few moments as the two inhabitants drowned in their own inner battles.

_Should I tell him? It'll only make things worse. What am I doing here?_

_Smile? Okay, I'm exhausted… but…_The knot in his stomach grew a size, and he involuntarily gripped his belly.

_Why do I feel this way?_

Seeing Ryoma's hand motion snapped Sakuno from her current perturbed state. She glanced at him, only to see his face twisted with deep thought. Suddenly Sakuno broke the silence, "I have to go."

"But, Ryuzaki, where are you going?" Ryoma stood up from his chair before Sakuno even got out of her resting place.

"I-"

The school bell reverberated through the school, bouncing off the tile floor in the nurse's room. The two teenagers were both oblivious to its ring. There was nothing happy about going home today.

"I'm going home." Sakuno said matter-of-factly, though the boy accompanying her could sense the uneasiness in her voice.

"No," Ryoma walked towards Sakuno and looked her in the eye, "Mada mada da ne."

"Ryoma-kun?" Sakuno's eyes magnified.

"You need to smile first," the arrogant young man said coolly, smirking. Their faces were only inches apart.

"Umm, I don't understand-"

"And I don't understand why you're sad, so we're even." He breathed arrogant breaths which flared her face up, "So what's it gonna be? I don't have to go home, Oyaji won't care."

The next thing that Sakuno sent chills down Ryoma's body, "At least you have somebody to go home to."

Complete silence overflowed the room.

* * *

To Be Continued...

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Note: So there's another cleaned up chapter. I hope you liked it!


	3. Silence's Aftermath

MadokaKotone: Have no fear, the next chapter is here!

Kotone: with some tweaks to the letter!

Madoka: Yeah, we decided unanimously that the plot was seriously overdone.

Kotone: Eto… you still need to do the… uhh… (Pause) (Cough) **DIS-**

Madoka: I KNOW! Can you PLEASE stop with the coughing?! Oi, where's my disclaimer?!

**DISCLAIMER:** My name is not Takeshi Konomi, therefore, I do not own PoT.

Madoka: (sigh) Finally, now on to CHAPTER 3 (Reborn!) !!! But still you need a **warning:**

**"What's depressing for now will brighten up in the near future…" –R.E.**

Just telling you again…

**(Recap)**

The next thing that Sakuno said sent chills down Ryoma's body, "At least you have somebody to go home to."

**_ Whoa, what she mean by _that**

****

****Complete silence overflowed the room.

Chapter 3

Silence.

There are many different kinds of silence, among there which are; awkward silence- that weird, abrupt halt of every noise in the vicinity that happens only once in a while; and the comfortable silence- in which the sweep of quietness is involuntarily expected by the ones engulfed in it.

Nevertheless, the silence flooding the white cubicle two people stood rigid in was not awkward, and especially not comfortable, but the exact opposite.

Bone-chilling.

The silence was almost to the point of suspense, at least to one end of the line of two. That end could only stare hard into the opposite's eyes with a look of uneasy interest. Self-deciding if to or not to break the _bone-chilling_ silence, his mouth moved before he could stop it, "Sit down."

Ryuzaki was as affected from the aftermath of the hushed atmosphere as much as Ryoma was. Her body was only relying on its own instincts; her brain was on complete lock-down right now, so she sub-consciously swayed towards the nearest flat surface that her legs discovered.

The events that just occurred replayed in her head.

Seeing Ryoma talking to her…

Reminding her why she was sad in the first place…

_"At least you have someone to go home to."_

**(Boy's Locker Room. Wednesday 8/27. ****2:35**

****

Eight Seigaku regulars were paying duty to their daily dress-up routine after school. Only this time, nobody wasn't as giddy, ecstatic, snake-like, or even as stoic as they normally were for their own liking.

It was silent.

No sounds of 'Oh, you wanna go, mamushi?!' 'Urusai, teme!!!'s could be heard.

No talk of a new juice recently created and one's show-offy way of asking for a sip of it.

No 'Eiji, please calm down's or 'Hoi, hoi, I'm hyper, Nya!'s or 'Here, Taka-san'… 'BURNINGGGG!!!!'s.

Even the stoic Captain of the North Pole was a little bit more edgy.

While everyone else got ready in complete silence, Eiji watched the floor with a blank, melancholic stare.

Oishi was just finished fishing his egg-shaped head out from the top hole of his Seigaku shirt when he saw Eiji sulking on the locker room bench. Sympathetically, he strode toward the bummed out redhead and plopped down next to him.

Oishi looked straight ahead, at the rusted lockers, "So… you felt it, too?"

Eiji slowly lifted his head, facing his doubles partner. He sighed, and spoke solemnly, after a brief pause, "I think we all did, but we were so careless all we did was shrug it off… like it was nothing," The Seigaku reflex-expert adjusted his vision back to the dusty floor, inspecting it, "We treated that little knot in our stomachs like dirt…like dust-"

"-Eiji-"

"-like a person always would; if you felt a speck of dust on your skin what would you do?" Not waiting for an answer, Eiji continued, "-swipe it away just to get that tingly feeling off of you, not caring a thing in the world why that speck landed on your ear to begin with. You just wanted it gone so you could get on with your life…"

As Eiji kept rambling on, Oishi could only stare. **_What is wrong with you, Eiji? You sound like a madman. _**He turned to Fuji Shuusuke who came up beside them. "Fuji-sempai, may I see the docu-" Oishi's plea was cut short,

"Someone get Echizen."

**(Seigaku Nurse.**** Wednesday 8/27. ****2:35**

Eyes wide with anxiety, that broadened even more when what she said finally sunk in, glazed over to Ryoma's back. **_Did I really say that? Surely I was just thinking that in my mind._**

The tennis phenomenon stiffly sauntered to go grab a chair, thinking about that knot from earlier. **_Wow, it feels like my stomach is suffocating. Whatever is going on has to be with Ryuzaki. _**Ryoma gripped the head of the wooden chair beside the nurse's cot, and since he barely had any strength left, just yanked it across the tile floor. Metallic-sounding scrapes, like nails raking a dusty chalkboard, bounded wall-to-wall across the empty room, resonating thoroughly throughout the still air.

Sakuno watched in awe her tennis prince struggling to get a mere chair from one side of the room to the other. **_Why is Ryoma-kun so persistent with me? _**Ryoma scooted the chair closer. **_Why does he want to know?_**

Scoot.

**_I mean, why would he even be here?_**

Screech.

**_Ryoma-kun even had the guts to skip class to see me._**

****

****Before she knew it, Ryoma was already in the chair positioned in front of her watching her drift into a trance, "Oi," Ryoma was slowly but surely starting to shed that aftermath-chilled skin, "Look at me."

Sakuno whipped out of her trance in the blink of an eye. She cast her orbs downward, "N-nani?"

Ryoma glared at her, "You know," He kept his icy glare glued on Sakuno, compelling her to tell him everything that's going on, "Now tell me."

The feeble-mannered girl looked up, "But, Ryoma-kun-"

"-RYUZAKI. You better tell me what's going on, or else." Well, Ryoma's pretty much mad right now, "…You're not…-"

Sakuno's profile soaked through with cherry, "No, Ryoma-kun!-"

"-Then tell me what's going on." One with this much pride was not going to lose this battle.

Ryuzaki muttered a faint, " I'll show you," before standing up and unzipping her bag.

Echizen was too swallowed up in his ego to have heard what Sakuno said that he only saw her actions, not heard her words. Then he saw her reach into her bag to pull something out. **_Oh, no. You're not getting off that easy. _**

****

He got up at lightning speed and closed in on Sakuno before she could turn around. His wrist seized hers and yanked her whole body around so that they were millimeters apart again. The petite girl tried to pry her wrist out, but only half-heartedly, because she knew what the result would've been anyway.

She gaped at him and magnified her eyes while he eyed the crumpled piece of paper in her dainty fingers, "Ryoma-kun, b-before you read th-that, it's about… Oishi-sempai."

Ryoma snapped his eyes back to her, "Huh?"

Sakuno pointed with her free hand to the silhouette blocking the open door.

Oishi's mouthed dropped seeing Ryoma and Sakuno like that, "Oi! Echizen! We need to pra-"

"-Mada Mada da ne!" Ryoma shot a fierce look at his sempai and frowned.

Oishi and Sakuno gaped at him. Oishi's bottom lip trembled, "B-but, Echizen…"

"Oishi-sempai," The Prince of Tennis held up his right hand towards Oishi's face, "Matte."

Oishi was stunned. Ryoma always replied with a simple, "Uis," or "Coming,". Ryoma was always ready to practice. **_What could he possibly want from Ryuzaki-Chan? _**Then he saw the paper.

**_No…_**

****

****Oishi's hands balled up in apprehension. **_No…No…Don't read it…_**

Sakuno's eyes darted from his face to the paper and back again. It was facing him so that he could be able to read the scribbled kanji.

Ryoma peered over the letters, searching for some information on the subject jotted on it.

Oishi squeezed his eyes shut. **_Please…_**

****

****Sakuno's eyes started to leak, the liquid sorrow coating her chocolate eyes. Her head dropped, "Ryoma-kun…"****

****

****Since Ryoma was in his unstoppable state, he kept reading on and on and-

****

****What he read next gave him an overdose of chills:

_To the family member(s) of Ryuzaki, Sumire,_

_We are here to sadly inform you that Ryuzaki Sumire has tested positive for esophageal cancer._

_We will inform you of any future problems._

_Signed, Management_

His eyes dilated. His lips parted. His breath hitched. His wrist clenched.

"I-I-Itai," Sakuno crud out from under his shock.

Oishi looked away.

Ryoma looked at Sakuno.

Sakuno looked at Ryoma….

Silence.

**END**

**( A****/N: ) Yeah, I'm really sorry.**

**I felt so bad; I redid some crucial parts. **

**The previous update of this chapter was major overkill, so here you have it!**

**P.S. I was thinking… should I make Ryuzaki-sensei live…or not?**

**I feel a pole coming on!!!**

**Catch you guys later!**

**R.E.**


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